The claims have me worried a bit. The alginate, being "capable of absorbing 200-300 times its own weight in water", seems an additive in 'slimming agents' as purely a diuretic. How is it supposed to be blocking absorption of fat? Unless the fats are suspended among the water molecules that are being hoarded by the alginate... how much water would you have to drink to compensate for the ingestion of this albeit 'natural' moisture sponge?

That said, I'd be one of thousands who wishes it really worked. I could use a magic pill. Think of all the food you could enjoy, consequence-free.Edited by Charron - 3/24/10 at 9:08am

That is a strong diuretic. Not sure I'd be taking it. Having said that, seaweed is very high infibre, and any food that helps increase your fibre intake will help in weight loss. I once went on a high fibre regime for reducing my weight, minumum of 40grams per day, and it worked very well. Felt full all the time too on only 1200 calories a day, and trained at lacrosse 6 times a week while doing it.

But the fact that this would appear to be a salt is somewhat worrying - wonder what the salt content is? Enough salt in modern day foods as it is.

Again though, the Japanese cuisine has a lot of uses for seaweed and in general, their population is not particularly obese. Also due to the use of fish and rice. And I think their average lifespan is pretty high too.